Mr and Mrs K's New Journey to a Debt Free Life.

AlexLK

Iwillsucceed wrote: »

Hello Alex!

Just popping in to wish you a lovely weekend!
I shall rather not talk about education in England! :-) ha ha ha!
My kids go to a state school! They both are fluent in English, French, and Spanish! One is in year 8 and has achieved 7a in all her subjects and my 10 year old has 6as, he is maths genius ha ha ha!! He loves a book owned by his dad, Engineering Maths by Stroud! Ha ha ha
They are very young and they have travelled around the world already!


As far as I know, EDUCATION starts at HOME!!

Regards,

Iwillsucceed: I hope you have a nice weekend yourself, mine has been fairly quiet but with a bit of a nasty shock, it appears my wife has cards that I didn't know about. She reckons that she owes nothing though, so at least there is something positive.

Sorry I don't know what 7a or 6a etc. means but I suppose it's good? :rotfl: re. your son.

As for education starting at home, I entirely agree. Both my wife and I set aside plenty of time for our son to learn new things.

maman wrote: »

Couldn't resist telling you about an article in Tatler. It's about how you can succeed in life by going to a state school and it lists the top ones. Admittedly if you look at it with a professional eye it's a bit of fluff about how various 'celebs' have made their way in the world and reflects the postcode lottery that is education. But my granddaughter goes to one of them!:rotfl:

I'm delighted that you're happy to leave LittleK settled in his current nursery but, for the future, you do need to make an informed choice.

P.S. On a more serious note, while I don't know the context of the call from your parents, might they be angling for LittleK to go for more days/longer hours as they're finding him tiring?

To be honest, the whole state school thing is not about him "succeeding" more having a good education and getting the opportunity to try new things. I don't think any parent can predict what their child is going to do in adult life. My parents had aspirations for me to work in the City, I of course didn't and cannot stand busy places so that was a none starter in the first place.

Yes, we do need to choose wisely. My mother has discovered school league tables on the internet; apparently our local village school is "19% scum" which only led her off into a rant of not expecting that in (the village I live in).

On the other note, my son is going to nursery for three afternoons instead of two as of Monday, so their hours have been cut anyway. Mother is in very good health for her age (when she doesn't go climbing into peoples lofts) and copes fine with our son. Unfortunately, that's not really the case for my father but he greatly enjoys doing quiet activities with his grandson, think it does him a lot of good.

AlexLK

Saturday 4th January, 2014.
Day 129.

Dear Diary,

First of all I apologise my diary entries have not been up to a good standard for quite a while, I hope I shall find some more creativity soon. Must be that damn Elf who has taken my creative side back to the North Pole with him!

Another mixed day with an unexpected deal done (carry on like this and I may even give myself a pay rise, instead of a cut) and a good eight uninterrupted hours sleep for the first time I can remember in the positive corner. However, my wife pulled out a card I'd never seen in Sainsburys, even though she claims to owe nothing I cannot deny I'm uncomfortable with this, I'm failing to cut the drinking down despite my doctor saying it would help and mother is increasingly grating on my nerves.

On another note, I have realised I need to stop getting jealous of other people, does me no favours nor do I know their actual circumstances. After being torn whether to do this or not; today I put £25.00 towards paying my debts, not a lot but something is better than nothing.

Two things to be thankful for:
Deals.
Son always managing to bring a smile to my face.

Summary:
-£70.00 Petrol.
-£58.00 Groceries - admittedly £27.00 of this was on a bottle of Port that I am regretting somewhat.

Yours Faithfully,
Alex.

daisystar

Hi Alex


This is my first time popping into your diary, I hope you don't mind me commenting. I've been reading it for a little while now - its always on the first page!!


Firstly, I really feel for you. You've got a lot going on in your head, and with debts to reduce its hard to find any sanctuary sometimes. And you've got a merry band of cheerleaders/*sswhippers following your every move on here!! There are a lot of people saying a lot of very sensible things, and I can't add much but I just wanted to give you another perspective on the school thing.................


I too am an only child, but with a very different background to yours. In fact, I would probably have been in what your mother would have described as 'scum' when looking at my demographic........... father around but in a LOT of trouble a lot of the time, mother moving around between v low paying jobs, no stability, lots of alcohol around, rough estate (someone once set fire to my hair!), etc, etc. BUT looking underneath the surface, you would have seen a mum educating her daughter and instilling a strong work ethic and a belief that anything is possible.


Obviously I went to the local state primary, and secondary. There were two important things that came from my school experiences. Firstly, I made amazing friendships that have lasted until this day. My friends from that time come from a broad spectrum of backgrounds, but mainly from families that were much more wealthy and stable than mine. Imagine if one of their parents had not let me mix with them because of my background, and what I imagine was my shabby appearance back then??


Secondly, both schools provided a wealth of opportunities, that because of my mum I was eager to grasp with both hands. You've heard it all before, but some examples are: clarinet to Grade 8, orchestra, choir, chamber choir, representing the county at athletics, trips to Europe, learning to ski, performing in the school play, and countless more. I left there to go on to university, to a course that had 30 applicants to every place at the time and that a visiting careers advisor had said there was no point in even applying for. I lived with people from both state and private schools, and we had both landed at the same point in life. These are also now longstanding friends (uni was quite a while ago! )


A final point - in my career, I have had to successfully interact with people who range from people with a knighthood to homeless drunks. I have been able to get all of these people to firstly trust me, then cooperate with me to achieve a particular outcome. I honestly believe that my state education helped me to deal with such a wide variety of people so successfully. My private school educated course-mates were also successful, but had much more of a culture shock to overcome.


Sorry this is so long, and its really not saying that I think state is better than private, I'm simply saying that it doesn't always mean worse. I'm also saying that I'm very thankful for parents who were broadminded enough to accept me as a friend of their child back in the day!! Just possibly something for you to think about....... :):)

daisystar

PS - don't regret the port, just drink, enjoy, move on, and don't do it again for a while!!


PPS - I also have an overbearing mother, seems they exist in all walks of life. Mine is the polar opposite of yours, she frowns heavily on anything I do that is deemed 'posh' or 'snobby'. I deal with it by reminding myself that WE are the parents now, not she. The naughty thing is that I quite enjoy telling her our plans when I know she's going to disapprove, heehee!!! I would relish the chance to break the news about your nursery decision - actually, would you like me to just tell yours everything?!!!!


PPPS My son always brings a smile to my face too - we really are very lucky

AlexLK

Hello Daisy,

I do not mind you commenting at all, please feel free to comment anytime you wish.

No need to apologise for the length of your post and thank you for sharing your own enlightening prospective.

daisystar wrote: »

PS - don't regret the port, just drink, enjoy, move on, and don't do it again for a while!!

Will certainly not be doing it again for a while and if you knew how overstocked my drinks cabinet is you'd likely be slightly embarrassed too!

daisystar wrote: »

PPS - I also have an overbearing mother, seems they exist in all walks of life. Mine is the polar opposite of yours, she frowns heavily on anything I do that is deemed 'posh' or 'snobby'. I deal with it by reminding myself that WE are the parents now, not she. The naughty thing is that I quite enjoy telling her our plans when I know she's going to disapprove, heehee!!! I would relish the chance to break the news about your nursery decision - actually, would you like me to just tell yours everything?!!!!

It's a funny ol' world, eh?

:rotfl: You don't know my mother, it'd take a VERY brave person to contest her. Father reckons she's "not as tough as she pretends", hmmm not sure who he's trying to delude, me or himself.

daisystar wrote: »

PPPS My son always brings a smile to my face too - we really are very lucky

Yes, we are. How old is yours?

maman

I don't recall 'scum' as a category in school league tables.;)

AlexLK

maman wrote: »

I don't recall 'scum' as a category in school league tables.;)

:rotfl: She was talking about the percentage who had free school meals, which started a whole other rant about where her tax is going.

daisystar

Aww he's just 2, and brilliant!! How old is yours?

I must apologise again, I read my post back and realised it sounds like a 'I went to a state school and look how well I've done' post rather than the 'don't be too worried about who else might be at school with your DS as children are clever enough to decide who they should mix with themselves, and don't be too worried as decent state schools offer great opportunities' post it was intended to be

I reckon you're probably braver than you think when it comes to your mother, the key is being secure in your own decision. When you and Mrs K have reached a decision you are both happy with - and that's who it comes down to, you two - you'll find the strength to tackle her. If not, pick me!!! (Did you not read the part where someone set my hair on fire?!! I'm really not scared!!!) :rotfl:

AlexLK

daisystar wrote: »

Aww he's just 2, and brilliant!! How old is yours?

He turned 3 in November.

daisystar wrote: »

I must apologise again, I read my post back and realised it sounds like a 'I went to a state school and look how well I've done' post rather than the 'don't be too worried about who else might be at school with your DS as children are clever enough to decide who they should mix with themselves, and don't be too worried as decent state schools offer great opportunities' post it was intended to be

Thank you for the clarification.

daisystar wrote: »

I reckon you're probably braver than you think when it comes to your mother, the key is being secure in your own decision. When you and Mrs K have reached a decision you are both happy with - and that's who it comes down to, you two - you'll find the strength to tackle her. If not, pick me!!! (Did you not read the part where someone set my hair on fire?!! I'm really not scared!!!) :rotfl:

Mrs. K. and I are not exactly on the best of terms this evening.

:rotfl: So you reckon you could deal with a 70-odd year old, 5'nothing, considerably richer than yaaaw battle axe then? I love my mother really, honest.

mum2one

AlexLK wrote: »

:rotfl: She was talking about the percentage who had free school meals, which started a whole other rant about where her tax is going.

Bless her, how would she cope if the policy comes in that all children in primary school have free school dinners.

To be honest 19% is a low figure - one school I knew was 50% free meals xx